The present invention relates generally to printing systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for controlling printing applications over a variety of columned layouts and across a variety of web sizes.
In the newspaper printing industry, the cost of paper constitutes one of the primary expenses in publishing a copy of the newspaper. As such, newspaper printers have sought to reduce the amount of paper required to print each copy. For example, newspaper printers have often reduced or removed margins surrounding the print and shrunk fonts. Additionally, many newspaper printers have sought to reduce the size of each page. For example, many printers have identified that switching from a fifty-four inch wide page to fifty or forty-eight inch wide page would result in a significant cost savings.
However, traditional printing press systems were designed to utilize a particular web width. That is, the printing presses were designed to apply ink along a particular web width. Furthermore, operator consoles that control and allow augmentation of the printing process were designed to control the application of ink across a particular number of columns on the particular web width. For example, the operator consoles include keyboards that have predefined key layouts matched or mapped to the size of the web and the number of columns to be formed on the web to print a given page. Accordingly, a printing press operator could place a reference copy of the paper on the console and use the keys aligned with a particular column to adjust the print parameters, for example, the ink levels, applied to that column to match the printing to the reference copy.
To allow a printer to print using different webs with different widths on a press with a fixed inker width, “multi-web” features have been added. In general, these multi-web features utilize a computerized control system that attempts to map the eight page keys on the screen or the laydown keyboard to the size and spacing associated with a selected web width. The operator then communicates a desired change using the screen or keyboard, and the system determines how to achieve a particular change indicated by the operator to the desired portion of the page.
When attempting to map the keyboard to the size and spacing associated with a selected web width, some systems have been developed that disable keys on the keyboard that correspond to areas extending beyond the selected web width being printed. Although this approach has been effective in allowing a fixed keyboard to be used to control a variable page width, printing press operators lose the ability to directly compare and coordinate printing adjustments for a particular column based on a reference copy. In particular, while such systems allow an operator to print a web having a somewhat reduced width, if the web width is significantly reduced, it is difficult for the operator to determine which keys of the operator keyboard correspond to a particular column or portion of the reference copy. As such, in some cases, it is necessary to change the keyboard to another keyboard having a configuration matched to the size and column arrangement of the reference copy.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system and method for facilitating control of a printing process over a variety of web widths without requiring an operator to extrapolate the relationship between a keyboard and a reference copy or to physically replace the keyboard to match the size and layout of the reference copy.